Dogfish Head's new Jolly Trolley shuttle allows on-board beer-drinking at the beach

If you're a Dogfish Head fan, it just got easier to travel between their Rehoboth Beach brewpub and Milton brewery on busy summer weekends at the beach.

Even better: You can ride in the bus lane, drink beer and rock out to Dogfish Head-approved jams while you're doing it.

Dogfish and the Jolly Trolley joined forces last month to debut a new Dogfish Head Shuttle which runs continuously each Saturday through Sept. 8.

The shuttle connects Dogfish Head's growing empire of breweries, restaurants, brewpubs and hotels in the area, making stops at Dogfish's brewpub and Chesapeake & Maine restaurant in Rehoboth Beach, the brewery in Milton and Lewes' Dogfish Inn.

But the real selling point is that the air-conditioned, enclosed shuttle can do something you can't as a mere mortal beachgoer: drive in the bus lane without fear of getting pulled over by the police.

And unlike the regular Jolly Trolley rides that ferry people between Rehoboth and Dewey beaches, you can drink beer on the Dogfish Head Shuttle because the company allows booze on board the beer-themed ride. (They don't serve on the bus, but you can bring your own.)

They are taking advantage of the fact that Delaware is one of only a few states that legally allows passengers to drink alcohol in a moving vehicle.

"We just ask that they be careful and don't spill them everywhere," Lydia Hastings, Jolly Trolley operations manager, says with a laugh.

The shuttles run every Saturday starting with a 10:15 a.m. pickup at Dogfish's Rehoboth Beach brewpub, with the last bus leaving the brewery for Rehoboth at 4:10 p.m.

It makes 11 stops throughout the day and costs $10 each way for all rides except rides between Rehoboth Beach and Lewes. Those are $5 each.

Reservations can be made at jollytrolley.com. Tickets must be purchased by 8:15 a.m. the day of shuttle service to guarantee seating and walk-ons are allowed, but seats are not guaranteed.

So far, you won't have to worry about finding a seat. Since starting on June 23, the shuttle has had a slow start, officials admit, including a couple of rainy days.

But they hope as word spreads, sales pick up — especially if you've ever been bitten by surge pricing while using Uber or Lyft.

The pairing of iconic, homegrown and family-run Delaware beach businesses came after they found great success partnering for Dogfish's annual Weekend of Compelling Ales & Whatnot.

About 350 people used the shuttle for the March 24 event that draws 1,000 people for a day of rare beers and food pairings. That's when they decided to give it a try on Saturdays for the summer.

"A lot of people who come here to Milton to visit the brewery are also going to the brewpub and vice versa and just said, 'Well, let's try it one a day a week this summer and see if it gets any traction,'" says Dogfish Head co-owner and vice president Mariah Calagione. "We didn't have a specific goal to get to by a certain date, but it's been steadily picking up."

Jolly Trolley and Dogfish have also worked together in the past for private parties, as well as other events such as Analog-A-Go-Go and the Dogfish Dash.

During a recent run of the Dogfish Head Shuttle from Milton to Rehoboth, Jolly Trolley staff checked their GPS system and saw the ride would have been an estimated 55 minutes in a private car. The shuttle was able to do it in 30 minutes in the near-empty bus lane.

"There was hardly any traffic for us and we just drove along," Hastings says.

The timing of the Dogfish Head collaboration comes as the Jolly Trolley has been stepping up its more inventive offerings.

Last year, the service launched a Freeman Stage shuttle that takes music fans from Lewes, Rehoboth Beach, Dewey Beach or Bethany Beach to the Selbyville-area music venue for a select nine shows. 

This year the number jumped to 17. Upcoming shows with shuttle service include The Beach Boys, OAR, Cheap Trick and Vince Gill. 

The cost of the round-trip rides range from $15 from Bethany Beach to $30 for the 54-mile round-trip ride from Lewes.

Hastings says Jolly Trolley jumped at the chance to try the news Dogfish route when the beermakers approached them. 

"We were both growing our business at the same time in the '90s — they had a young family and my parents had a young family. We see a lot of similarities there," she says. "Local businesses working together is a big part of their business model and it's a big part of ours."

Contact Ryan Cormier of The News Journal at rcormier@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2863. Follow him on Facebook (@ryancormier), Twitter (@ryancormier) and Instagram (@ryancormier).

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